All U.S. patents referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. In the case of conflict, the present specification, including definitions, will control.
For as long as there have been portable possessions, there have been opportunities to for them to be mislaid or go missing. When such possessions have intrinsic, subjective and/or sentimental value, the loss can be especially difficult for the owner of the possession. In today's society such possessions and objects might include a ring of keys, a portable music player with a large music collection, a laptop computer, a digital camera containing the only copy of treasured family photos, or any number of portable objects.
One time-tested method of protecting against the permanent loss of an object is for the owner to write her name and contact information, for example, a phone number and an address, on the object or on a tag or label attached to the object. Then, when the object is lost or otherwise separated from its owner, a person finding the object can use the name and contact information to contact the owner and communicate arrangements for the return of the object to the object's owner. However, this approach has drawbacks. First, such an approach provides information about the owner's identity to an unknown person. If the lost object were a ring of keys, a finder with mal-intent could use the information on the tag to discern the identity and address of the owner and then use the keys to gain access to her residence. Second, such an approach may not provide contact information with the best currency—such as when the owner is traveling or has recently moved. If the information on the tag is not current and the finder cannot quickly communicate with the owner, an opportunity may be lost for the finder to return the object to the owner before the owner continues in her travels.
Another method for tagging possessions to protect against their loss is referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,367 to Klein. This patent refers to the use of RFID tags encoded with “obfuscated” owner information. The RFID encoded information may be used to retrieve a file containing more detailed owner contact information. A drawback to Klein's approach is that a finder must gain access to an RFID tag reader and appropriate software to decode the information and access the file through a network. When this is done through a third party, either the third party must disclose the owner's private contact information or the finder must trust the third party to return the item to the owner. As with conventional tags, Klein's system may lack the most current contact information, create delays (and lost opportunities) in returning possessions, and result in the loss of owner privacy.
Other systems purport to overcome these disadvantages but fall short. Some require the use of a shipping intermediary in order to return the object to its owner. Some require a third party intermediary to process a “found” report and provide return instructions to a finder.